Currently, manufacturers of networking equipment and other electronic systems employ a “modular” chassis design that allows the construction of replaceable “line cards” or “cards” with varying functionalities. Accordingly, each customer can purchase and fill their modular chassis with cards that have the required functionality to meet their particular desires. Modular chassis and their associated cards allow customers flexibility, the ability to easily expand capability, the ability to easily switch functionality, and a number of other benefits. Most cards have the same overall requirements with respect to power and other essentials provided by the chassis. Therefore, numerous cards may be designed in the same manner with the same chassis interface.
In mission critical or high demand environments, it is necessary to have modular chassis or platform designs that have increased functionality requirements along with decreased costs and increased reliability. In such environments, the electrical components within these chassis or platforms may generate or be exposed to large fluctuations in temperature (such as, for example, approximately −40° C. to approximately +85° C. ambient temperature), high vibrational shocks (such as, for example, over approximately 20 G, for shock and acceleration), dust and other environmental hazards. To accommodate these conditions, therefore, specific accommodations are made that are uncommon in noncritical environments, including ridged design, cooling apparatus, and the heat generated by the electrical components. These conventional electronic systems generally use fans or other air moving means to force air flow across the modules in order to dissipate the generated heat. However, these solutions do not always result in cost effective construction while maintaining performance. For example, forced-air cooled modular electronic systems do not operate well in harsh environments for a number of reasons. First, in harsh environmental conditions, it is not always possible to have the fan operational and a fan failure may not become immediately apparent, which may cause other components to fail before the fan failure is noticed. Second, in harsh environmental conditions, which tend to also be dirty conditions, the air generally has dust and other airborne contaminants contained therein, such that perpetually forcing air around delicate electronic components may eventually cause undesired failures. These chassis designs must therefore be able to provide heat dissipation and withstand vibration shock but still be able to provide the necessary functionality.
Furthermore, in addition to protecting the electrical components against harsh environmental conditions, including dust vibration, dirt and heat, it is also desirable to protect the electrical devices from shock and vibration. An acute shock, or prolonged vibration, may lead to failure of highly sensitive electronic devices.
There remains a critical need for proper environmental (temperature ranges, vibration, dust, etc.) management for the successful operation of many types of devices, particularly in mission critical environments. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a modular electronic system with reliability which can operate in harsh environments. There is also a need in the art for a modular electronic system which is resistant to environmental conditions, such as dirt, heat vibration and shock.